Miss Darcy is an eight year old cockapoo who lives in Chelsea with mum May and her little brother George.
May didn’t grow up with dogs, in fact she used to be nervous around us and thought we were smelly! (Well I suppose she has a point there 😂) Then she met a guy who loved dogs and together they got Darcy. May heard that cockapoos made great London dogs and she always wanted a Mr. Darcy but Mister turned out to be a Miss and May’s life would never be the same again.
Things were difficult to begin with as the guy didn’t stick around for long and May found herself solely responsible for this little pup and soon realised she wasn’t quite the child surrogate she was expecting. In fact she almost gave Darcy away.
Fortunately she decided to think about it whilst away on a pre-planned trip and soon found herself thinking about Darcy every waking moment and counting the days until they could be reunited.
One of the initial problems May faced was anxiety at leaving Darcy home alone. She felt that her life was being restricted by no longer being able to go to restaurants or the cinema. So she decided to do something about and set out to find places where Darcy could accompany her and thus their London adventure began.
As the list of dog friendly places grew, May started to write about them and that was how the blog Miss Darcy’s Adventures came about.
Eight years on, May and Darcy are now inseparable. We asked Miss Darcy about her London life:
What do you love about living in London?
Oh so many reasons! Where do I begin? I love the parks – where George and I can run freely - meet new friends and the humans all seem happy when we walk together. I love that so many places have become so welcoming to us pooches. Mum likes taking us everywhere with her and it has become so much easier to go to shops and restaurants with her.
Which parks do you and George love to run in?
My most favourite place for walkies in London will always be Kensington Gardens. It was the first park I went to when I first came to London … and I know it well. I know where the squirrels are. When I was a pup, I used to be able to fit through the fence into the rose garden and go squirrelling. It used to drive Mum mad. I can’t and don’t do that any more but I still love all the squirrels there. It will always be my favourite park.
The other park which we love is at Chiswick House. There’s a maze which doggies are not supposed to go in but I always make a dash for it before Mum could say no. Then I get totally lost and Mum gets totally annoyed but we find each other and then it’s all ok. There are lots of pretty sights and lots of places to take pictures. We walk through forests and around the lake. And at the end there’s Chiswick House Café where we can sit outside.
Chelsea is super dog friendly, what places would you recommend?
Yes I am really lucky to live there.
One of the most dog-friendly places near us and one of the best Italian restaurants (according to Mum) is Lucio. We are always welcomed and we have our regular seats. Sometimes their own cockapoo and toy poodle are there to greet the guests.
The other places where we love going to is Matcha and Beyond – instead of her Red Velvet Cupcake, Mum gets a Green Velvet Cake. There are always doggies there and we meet our friends there too. We also like Poilane. Mum loves their open-face sandwiches and soup for lunch.
What places do you like to visit outside of London?
Well, my most favourite place to go to outside of London without Mum is at the House of Mutt in Suffolk. That’s where I normally go when Mum is off on her own adventures. At the House of Mutt, I get to be a dog. I run through the forest, we run on the nearby beaches and I get to go into puddles.
When we travel together within the UK, we love going to Holkham in Norfolk – we love the beaches there. Just miles and miles of white sandy beaches to run on.
I’m also very lucky to have travelled to other countries. I don’t have a favourite place – but I do love visiting my friend Marley in St. Tropez, but every new place we visit is an adventure and we love adventures.
What things do you do to make Mum smile?
Mum loves it when I do my happy dance on the bedroom carpet. I rub my back and make funny noises. She will always stop what she’s doing and smile at me.
But the thing that makes Mum happiest is when I would plonk myself right next to her when we are in the bed. She loves it when I snuggle up close to her.
My human is jealous of your extensive wardrobe? What is your favourite fashion accessory?
I suppose it is the yellow raincoat that I wear on grey rainy days. It is not necessarily MY favourite fashion accessory but because it always makes people smile on a grey rainy day, that I suppose it has got to be ranked up there.
Tell us about your brother George?
My little brother George aka Le Mutt was once a Hungarian street dog. He roamed a town outside Budapest and then one day he got culled from the streets and thrown into a Killing Station. But the Good Samaritans of the local shelters would go to these Killing Stations to seek out dogs that they could save from their death sentence. Luckily one of them found George – and they named him Bobo. Hungary Hearts Dog Rescue works with all these local shelters to find homes for them in the UK. Mum was asked if she could foster “Bobo”. She wasn’t sure. She was looking for another dog and wanted to rescue one that was going to be a white girl. George is a little black dog. Long story short – she agreed, went to pick him up and in less than 48 hours asked if she could have first refusal. And then before I knew what was happening, we were a family of three. Mum did a DNA test on him and found out he has Maltese, Shih-Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier in him! Today he is a charmer and he engages with humans at every opportunity.
We love your blog and following your adventures on Instagram. What are your favourite photo spots in London?
Well, there’s always Peggy Porschen – which might be a bit overdone by now. Although we are getting our own in Chelsea. The Ivy Chelsea always has nice flower arrangements – sadly both these places do not allow dogs inside, But Maitre Choux on Kings Road has an amazing wall of pink flowers – pink is our favourite colour.
What friends do you like to follow on Instagram?
Lots and lots! But my best buddies on Instagram are Freddie the Posing Cockapoo and Barnaby Poo. But we have so many friends, I would need many more pages to tell you about all of them!
What plans do you have for 2019?
Lots of travel plans. We’ve just been to Stockholm to meet some Cockapoos of Sweden. And then we went to Norway – all the way to Svalbard for an Arctic adventure. We’re going to Monaco and St Paul de Vence to celebrate Mum’s birthday, and then a trip to North America. My favourite little humans are coming to visit this summer and so there will be lots of adventures with them.
For more adventures of Miss Darcy and George follow their blog http://missdarcy.org/category/dog-blog/
We always want to meet new friends so if you enjoyed reading about Miss Darcy and would like to be featured on our blog just let us know